A Comprehensive Guide for Family Violence Practitioners

Ms. Carmella (Acciarito) is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court and High Court of Australia. As a Victorian registered legal practitioner, she is the Founder, Director, and Principal Lawyer of DFV Lawyers – Domestic and Family Violence Law Firm. This firm is Victoria and Australia’s first trauma-informed Domestic and Family Violence Law Firm, with extensive experience in domestic and family violence matters and their related criminal law matters.

She practices across Metropolitan and Regional Magistrates Courts of Victoria, with a particular focus on Family Violence Intervention Order Applications, contest proceedings, family violence-related assault, and stalking prosecutions. Ms. Carmella acts on behalf of Applicants, Protected Persons, and Respondents, including representations concerning vulnerable Applicants and Respondents such as children and persons with cognitive impairments.

Ms. Carmella has worked with community legal centres, specialist family violence services, Victoria Police – Police Prosecutions, and private clients on domestic and family violence matters arising under the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic), the Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Stalking and other Matters) Act (Vic) 2026, the Crimes Amendment (Non-Fatal Strangulation) Act 2024, the Crimes Act 1958, and the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework.

Her work is informed by a sustained commitment to access to the principles of justice, fairness, and equity, and the safety and protection of victim-survivors of family violence, those experiencing coercive control, and victim rights arising from misidentification and systems abuse.

This guide reflects Ms. Carmella’s direct client and courtroom experiences, the challenges all family violence practitioners face when navigating complex, multi-jurisdictional family violence matters, and her commitment to providing clear, practical, and principled guidance to the profession.

This comprehensive guide is an essential resource for professionals across the criminal justice system, legal practitioners, family violence practitioners, law enforcement, system services, and the broader education and community sectors who work with, or respond to, domestic and family violence. It provides the legal, procedural, and practical foundations required to understand the existing legislation and its 2026 reforms, apply them confidently in practice, and strengthen safety outcomes for victim survivors.

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